The founder and one-time executive chair of Nikola Corp. surrendered Thursday in New York on criminal charges alleging that he made false and misleading statements to investors about the electric and hydrogen-powered truck startup.
Trevor Milton resigned from Nikola in September amid allegations of fraud. At the time, Milton said he would defend himself against accusations that the company made false claims about its vehicles, allegations Nikola rejects.
In an indictment unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors charged Milton with two counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud.
He was accused in the indictment of making false and misleading statements through social media and television, print and podcast interviews about the company’s product and technology development.
The indictment said the claims were deceptive, false and misleading. A message seeking comment was left with his lawyer.
Milton was scheduled to make an initial court appearance in the afternoon.
Shares of Nikola Corp. tumbled 7% before the opening bell Thursday.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.